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Universal F40T12 Preheat Ballast Well, my Universal two lamp F40T12 preheat ballast I mentioned last week arrived today. It's a NOS one from February 1975 and has short leads. Interestingly Universal made at least two types of F40T12 two lamp preheat ballasts. One being this type in the pic and the other is the more common one with the lead lamp's starter connecting to a starting compensator inside the ballast. Even though this ballast dosen't have a starting compensator, the lamps as confirmed by a flash pattern check are run in lead-lag though. Kill-a-Watt said it drew 0.78A, 93W at 120v while running a pair of nearly new Sylvania 40w (no 34w suckers on this ballast) premium cool white lamps. Ballast is fairly quiet too, for a class B rated one. Right now I don't have any plans for this ballast unless I come across a nice vintage fixture for it that was originally preheat. If I starting using it though, I'll probably add a 1A fuse on it as it dosen't have thermal protection (are preheat ballasts exempt? as my RS ballasts from that era all have thermal protection). Oh and it also came with this pamphlet advertising Universal's rapid start ballast conversion kit: [url=https://dl.dropbox.com/u/102661519/Lighting/GoL_Pics/CCF030513_00001.jpg][img]https://dl.dropbox.com/u/102661519/Lighting/GoL_Pics/CCF030513_00001_M.jpg[/img][/url] Anyone have or seen such as kit? Keywords: Gear

Universal F40T12 Preheat Ballast

Well, my Universal two lamp F40T12 preheat ballast I mentioned last week arrived today. It's a NOS one from February 1975 and has short leads. Interestingly Universal made at least two types of F40T12 two lamp preheat ballasts. One being this type in the pic and the other is the more common one with the lead lamp's starter connecting to a starting compensator inside the ballast.

Even though this ballast dosen't have a starting compensator, the lamps as confirmed by a flash pattern check are run in lead-lag though. Kill-a-Watt said it drew 0.78A, 93W at 120v while running a pair of nearly new Sylvania 40w (no 34w suckers on this ballast) premium cool white lamps. Ballast is fairly quiet too, for a class B rated one.

Right now I don't have any plans for this ballast unless I come across a nice vintage fixture for it that was originally preheat. If I starting using it though, I'll probably add a 1A fuse on it as it dosen't have thermal protection (are preheat ballasts exempt? as my RS ballasts from that era all have thermal protection).

Oh and it also came with this pamphlet advertising Universal's rapid start ballast conversion kit:



Anyone have or seen such as kit?

COL_IMG_2136.JPG GOL_IMG_1876.JPG COL_CIMG_1370.JPG COL_CIMG_1351.JPG COL_IMG_1214.JPG
File information
Filename:COL_CIMG_1370.JPG
Album name:joe_347V / Lighting Components
Keywords:Gear
Company and Date Manufactured:Universal Manufacturing Corp., February 1975
Model Number:#203
Wattage:2 x 40w
Lamp Type:2 x F40T12
Filesize:150 KiB
Date added:Mar 05, 2013
Dimensions:1160 x 768 pixels
Displayed:220 times
Color Space:sRGB
DateTime Original:2013:03:05 18:24:59
Exposure Bias:0 EV
Exposure Mode:0
Exposure Program:Program
Exposure Time:1/60 sec
FNumber:f/4.5
Flash:Compulsory Flash
Focal length:30 mm
ISO:400
Make:Canon
Model:Canon EOS REBEL T3
URL:http://www.galleryoflights.org/mb/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=15156
Favorites:Add to Favorites

Comment 7 to 26 of 26
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A_lights   [Mar 08, 2013 at 03:31 AM]
Yeah, i have not understood why, as they dont have high voltages present on output leads
joe_347V   [Mar 08, 2013 at 04:58 AM]
Yeah, I'm not sure why too. On the other hand F32T8 IS ballasts have high voltages too but don't have a cutout holder.
streetlight98   [Mar 08, 2013 at 08:23 PM]
In my opinion, they should make single pin F32T8 lamps for use with instant start ballasts or at least make it mandatory that IS fixtures have plunger bi-pin sockets to prevent the arcing issue. Not sure how that relates to cut-out sockets though lol. My single lamp 2003 universal TS ballast says to use only a disconnect socket, but it only had a regular one. What's the difference?
A_lights   [Mar 08, 2013 at 11:11 PM]
A member on LG has special sylvania factory sample slimline 31W lamps and ones with RDC caps
xmaslightguy   [Mar 09, 2013 at 01:19 AM]
Nice Ballast find!
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Mar 09, 2013 at 03:17 AM]
Question...what era are the blue/yellow label Universal ballasts and the (seemingly more common) green/yellow label ones? What about the other odd color labels?
I really like old Universal ballasts!
joe_347V   [Mar 09, 2013 at 03:59 AM]
Yeah, I think Sylvania still lists the single pin 4' T8 lamps too in their pdf catalogue (not the online one), but only in 28w 3500K though.

I have one of those disconnect sockets lying around. I should take some pics of one. Oddly one of my preheat Cooper strips came with disconnect holders which is not needed.

Universal mostly varied labels by the model...
So far there's three variations, blue and yellow, green and yellow, and blue on white.
streetlight98   [May 05, 2013 at 09:38 PM]
Hmm this would be a nice ballast for that preheater i'm sending. Cool Razz
joe_347V   [May 06, 2013 at 02:34 AM]
Yeah, it currently lives inside it's box. Razz If you weren't planning on sending me a preheater I probably would have installed it in my Lithonia F40 strip light. Razz
streetlight98   [May 06, 2013 at 10:28 AM]
How long are the load leads? they aren't full length are they?
joe_347V   [May 08, 2013 at 11:44 PM]
Yeah, they're hardly full length Razz they're 12" long about the same length as modern replacement ballasts.
streetlight98   [Nov 26, 2013 at 10:59 PM]
What type of tulamp PH ballast is better, this style or the type with the internal starting compensator? Does one run the lamps better in the cold or make the lamps start faster or something?
joe_347V   [Nov 27, 2013 at 04:46 AM]
In theory the compensated ones would start the lead lamp easier as the inductance in the starting compensator helps to cancel out the effects of the cap in the lead section which boosts the filament current during preheating.

I'm not sure why they made two types of Tulamp ballast though.
streetlight98   [Nov 27, 2013 at 11:05 AM]
ahh i see. my tulamp long-john fixture is the same as this ballast.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Nov 28, 2013 at 08:48 PM]
So is that the same concept of how on a rapid start ballast or 8' magnetic slimline the primary/lead lamp will glow dimly if the secondary/lag one is EOL or missing?
streetlight98   [Nov 29, 2013 at 01:04 AM]
well on my ballast the lamps are independant of each other but i swear one is brighter than the other...
joe_347V   [Nov 29, 2013 at 03:38 AM]
This runs lamps independent of each other too. I believe all tulamp preheat ballasts have independent operation.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Nov 30, 2013 at 12:42 AM]
I would imagine preheat ballasts would have to run lamps independently since otherwise starting would take longer, if not be impossible, since one tube lights before the other usually, unlike rapid start where it doesn't matter. That is the only thing I don't like about rapid start...in fact just this evening I had to swap one of the Ace lamps in my recently reballasted garage light since it didn't like to start up, and would leave the other in dim-glow. It would finally light after messing with it but I was sick of that so now one of the lamps is that Sylvania Design 50...which looks weird next to a F40CW but it seems at least the light starts up every time now! Very Happy
joe_347V   [Nov 30, 2013 at 07:33 PM]
Preheat ballasts can run lamps in series but you'll need a separate starter circuit for each lamp. You can actually run two F20 lamps in series on a LPF F40 ballast.
GEsoftwhite100watts   [Nov 30, 2013 at 10:16 PM]
Oh that's interesting...

Comment 7 to 26 of 26
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